I was wondering today, how little, in our search for ‘ilm,’ we appreciate what we’ve learned already. Many times the nuances of information sometimes overshadow the mountain loads of meaning behind just a few words of our Beloved Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم .
The same words we’ve memorized so long ago, sitting in the banks of our memories, when uttered once, stir the hearts of others. I wonder what the condition is of the one who parts his lips to share the words of the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم, shaking the souls of others, while leaving the speaker with no effect. Or the one who recites beautifully, squeezing tears out of dry eyes, yet reflecting little past the domination of their tongues.
A man who never used to pray, walked into the Masjid one day.
He never prayed, but thought on this friday, “Let me just go to Jummuah and see what’s there.”
When he walked in, he heard the Imam say,
“There are two words, easy on the tongues, but heavy on the scales on the Day of Judgement, and are beloved by Ar-Rahman: subahanallah wa bihamdihi subahanallahil adheem”
The man who never used to pray was awestruck by this comment and remained for the rest of the khutbah.
After the salah, he went straight to the Imam and asked him if ‘those words’ were true.
The Imam, befuddled by the question, asked which ‘words,’ in particular, since the khutbah had many words in it.
The man said, “You know, something like, ‘habeebatan, khafeefatan, Ar-Rahman…’” (“two beloveds, two lights, The Ever-Merciful”).
The Imam responded affirmatively and said, “Ah yes, from the hadith of the Prophet PBUH, he said…..”
The man who never prayed, interrupted and asked him, “These were the words of the Prophet ?!”
The Imam confirmed, but then was interrupted again by the man…
“Are you sure, these were the words of the Prophet ?!”
The man just couldn’t believe that these beautiful words came from the Prophet PBUH, he was in utter disbelief.
After another confirmation, and reconfirmation, again the man, standing shaken, asked once again,
“The Prophet Muhammad PBUH ?!”
The Imam, now awed at the man’s disbelief could only answer once more, as he had before…yes.
That night, the man who never used to pray, went home and gathered his family.
He then asked them,
“Have you heard…? …that there are two words….that are light on the tongues….and heavy on the scales…and are beloved to Ar-Rahman?
They are: subahanallah wa bihamdihi, wa subahanallahil adheem!”
After that moment, the man resolved himself, and his family, to take up the five daily prayers….religiously, in the truest sense.
The man who never used to pray, went on to inform his entire family, asking each of them, “have you heard…that there are two words….that are light on the tongues….heavy on the scales…and are beloved to Ar-Rahman?
They are: subahanallah wa bihamdihi, wa subahanallahil adheem!”
That man then asked everyone he worked with, “have you heard…that there are two words….that are light on the tongues….heavy on the scales…and are beloved to Ar-Rahman?
They are: subahanallah wa bihamdihi, wa subahanallahil adheem!”
In every street, in every path, at every gathering, at any chance, the man, who never used to pray, asked the people, “have you heard…that there are two words….that are light on the tongues….heavy on the scales…and are beloved to Ar-Rahman?
They are: subahanallah wa bihamdihi, wa subahanallahil adheem!”
…This man, had no idea that these few gatherings would be the last of his life, and so when he was on his final death bed, and the agonies of death overtook him, as he was going in and out of consciousness…his loved ones surrounded him.
When he awoke, he would have his last moments with his family, only to faint back into the final stages of his death.
The doctor came in and lifted his hand to feel the pulse on his wrist.
As he did so, the man who never used to pray, awoke again, this time, to see a strange face, a man who who he had never met before in his life.
So he asked the doctor,
“have you heard…that there are two words….”
…and so, this Caller to Ar-Rahman was taken by the Ever-Merciful.
I’ve heard this hadith a few years ago, I took from it what I did, and the man took what he did.
May Allah have mercy on the Muslims and allow us to be effected by the words of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and the Quran, as true believers should.
May Allah protect us from fruitless knowledge, an unaware heart, and duas that are not responded to. Ameen.
